Guiana is one of thirteen countries in South America. Its official language is English and it is mostly filled with Asians and blacks. The government of Guyana is a republic, which means that the people have a lot of power and elect their president. Guyana has a humid tropical climate and expanses of rainforest. When it comes to economic activities, Guyanese make the most of their surroundings. Fishing boats harvest large quantities of fish and shrimp from the sea. In the plains, farmers grow sugar cane and rice. From the hills, miners extract bauxite, a mineral used to produce aluminium. Guyana is one of the largest exporters of bauxite in the world. This is what Guyana is like now, but what is the history of Guyana, where its people came from and how did they get to what it is like today. The Warrou people were the indigenous inhabitants of Guyana. The Dutch, English and French founded colonies in what is now known as Guyana, but by the early 17th century most of the settlements were Dutch. During the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain conquered the Dutch colonies of Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo, which became British Guiana in 1831. (http://www.infoplease.com,1). Slavery was outlawed in 1834, and the great need for plantation workers led to a large wave of immigration, primarily of East Indians. Today, approximately half of the population is of East Indian origin and approximately 36% is of African descent. In 1889, Venezuela claimed a large area of ​​Guyana's territory, but ten years later an international tribunal ruled that the land belonged to British Guiana. In 1978, the country gained worldwide attention when Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones and 900 of his followers committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. (http://www.infop...... middle of paper...... die. (http://history1900s.about.com,1). That day, November 18, 1978, 912 people died from drinking the poison, 276 of whom were children. Jones died from a single gunshot to the head, but it is unclear whether he did so himself. Only a handful of people survived, fleeing into the jungle or hiding somewhere in the compound . In total 918 people were killed, either at the airport or at the Jonestown compound. It is very sad that the youngest of our generation have not heard of this horrible piece of history. History1900s.about.com,1). Works Cited "Guyana" Infoplease, 2011 Web. January 12, 2014. .Rosenberg, Jennifer "The Jonestown Massacre About.com 20th Century History." January 12th. 2014. .